Friday, January 21, 2011

It's official! I'm hateful!

Here's the toon and below is the letter to the editor that ran about it.



Richard Crowson's editorial cartoon on Jan. 16 was another despicable hit-and-run from the left.

Did he tell us what words were said that were hateful? No. Did he name who said hateful words? No, but we have a pretty good idea. Did his cartoon include the man who actually pulled the trigger? No, apparently Crowson hates talkers more than an actual killer.

Do his hate-talkers include Alec Baldwin, who when appearing on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" in 1998 screamed that we should stone former Illinois Rep. Henry Hyde to death and go to the homes of House Republicans and kill their wives and children? It doesn't appear so.

Apparently Crowson wants us to imagine that everyone is guilty of either hate speech or is too cowardly to stop it. By the way — didn't this cartoon make Crowson guilty of hate speech?



Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/01/21/1683944/letters-to-the-editor-on-budget.html#ixzz1Bg98ABeP


How do I love this Oliphant cartoon? Let me count the ways.


I love the image -- the way it's rendered with the beautiful shading and sculptural volume of it. I love the expressive faces. I love the posture of the figures. I love the drama of the image. I love the view it advocates. I love the lettering. Just for starters.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Atextual


I hate texting and said so on KMUW.

Don't hear much out of arena bashers these days, do we

Who would Jesus make a payday loan to?


It is shameful that our Kansas Legislature continues to care more about the Payday Loan industry than it does about Kansas' working poor on whom that industry preys. If our new governor is as concerned about morality issues as he seems to so anxiously want us to believe, then he will address this problem. I'm betting he'll be quiet as a mouse about it. Too many of his good conservative Republican friends profit from it. Who would Jesus make a payday loan to, Governor?

Accordingly, I love this parody website called the Predatory Lending Association. The above is just a screenshot of it. Visit the website here.




Thursday, January 6, 2011

On Libertarians and their world (from New Republic)

Happy (cough cough) New Year

Got a little tired of Christmas music by Christmas Eve this year




This was my commentary on December 24. In spite of my love for Perry Como and the fact that my family put out a Christmas CD this year. I reserve the right to be self-contradictory...

Listen here or just read below:

It’s a funny thing about Christmas music. Just about the time when I feel like I’ll lose my Christmas cookies if I hear one more “Fa-la-la-la-la,” the season peaks and all those songs go away for another 11 or so months. It’s kind of nice, really.

We get so bombarded with Christmas music everywhere we go that we get to the point where we don’t even hear it after a while. Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme giggle through some a giddy “Sleigh Ride” in the Dillon’s loudspeaker and I’m just trying to decide whether to buy the 12-pack or the 24-pack of toilet paper. I get in the car and slam on the brakes when another driver darts into my lane, totally oblivious to Johnny Mathis singing his quivery heart out about “Folks dressed up like Eskimos.” After so many weeks of seasonal tunes, they all just start sounding like Charlie Brown’s teacher: “Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa.”

In desperation I find myself seeking out offbeat and less familiar versions of the songs. I recently discovered James Brown’s funky, soulful version of “The Christmas Song,” and Ralph Stanley’s recitation “Don’t Make Us Cry On Christmas Day” about a “drunk man and his children on Christmas night.”

After wearying of the sounds of the season, like magic, Christmas comes along and all the familiar songs disappear. Again we go through the year, late fall comes along and by Thanksgiving we welcome them back! Carols perk me up, get me in the mood for Christmas, then because they persist like manic deranged little drummer boys pounding on my eardrums nonstop until an auditory numbness sets in, my novocained hearing tunes them out.

So it goes. We cycle through the year and recycle the soundtrack of Christmas, over and over. First welcoming, then tolerant, then weary, then numb. If you’re at that numb stage like me, be of good cheer! It’ll all be over tomorrow! For KMUW, I’m Richard Crowson wishing you a Christmas full of peace and quiet.

I lost a good friend right before Christmas


And this idea came to mind. I also have a friend who lost his wife right before Christmas. These folks have difficult holidays and deserve our remembrance. It wasn't the cheeriest Christmas Day toon I ever drew but it was where my head and heart were this year.